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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27679228">Spies and Sensuality</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sproutings/pseuds/Sproutings'>Sproutings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Caroline's 20th Century Plans [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,121</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27679228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sproutings/pseuds/Sproutings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline Bingley and her sister are co-conspirators in a 1940s setting at Netherfield. Drama, sexy (but classy, of course!) negligees, sparkly outfits, and Mr Darcy being oblivious ensue.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Caroline Bingley/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Louisa Hurst/Caroline Bingley, Louisa Hurst/Mr. Hurst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Caroline's 20th Century Plans [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2280596</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lightning flashed across the sky. Rain plummeted sharply, hitting Netherfield like daggers. The wind howled. </p><p>Mr Darcy was reading.</p><p>Caroline was herself pretending to read, but was watchful of the company.</p><p>Mr Hurst lay on the sofa, every so often protesting that there should be a card table. His wife murmured something, and he was quiet.</p><p>Mr Bingley had been reading a letter with a frown on his face – seldom did his countenance assume such a gloomy look. His usually sunny features were dimmed by his news of business which summoned him to London, just as the bright sky of a few hours before been darkened by heavy storm clouds. It was especially in contrast to the smile he had worn, paired with the lovesick eyes of a puppy, earlier in the evening as he had danced with Jane Bennet. She had shone demurely in a white dress, embroidered at the ballerina-length hem and on the halterneck with flowers in pale pinks and yellows. The sweetheart neckline, Bingley thought, suited her to a tee. If he had not already been head over heels in love, the sway of her skirt, her dainty steps, golden curls, and star-shiney eyes would have done the trick.</p><p>He announced to the room that he would be leaving in the morning. “I will have to be gone for a few days as there is some urgent business for me in town. I should be back within the week, though, so you will not have long to amuse yourselves at your own expense.” He smiled genially at the group, sighed, and, having placed the letter in the desk of the drawer, he retired for the night, citing his journey and the need for an early morning as his reason for leaving retiring before the ladies. In truth, despite his easy manner, he felt something odd in the look of his sisters.<br/>
Little did he know what they planned.</p><p>As soon as his back was turned, Caroline was starting to formulate a plan.</p><p>When the door closed behind him, Caroline nodded to Mrs Hurst.</p><p>Mrs Hurst arose and strolled to the bar at the far end of the room. “Would you care for a drink, Mr Hurst?” She asked languidly.</p><p>Mr Hurst assented. A rum, on the rocks.</p><p>Mrs Hurst poured in a good quantity of rum. She tumbled the ice into the tumbler, and stirred. Mr Hurst did not notice the fizz of the powder that his wife had added.</p><p>Soon, his head hit the plush red sofa, and he would hear nothing.</p><p>Caroline’s lips lifted in a smirk. So, Mr Hurst was taken care of. Not that he was much of an obstruction, anyway. She thought that her sister’s choice of husband was a wise enough one, for her: He had given her sister the much-needed independence of being a dependent wife. Caroline knew that Mrs Hurst could make that work quite well in their household (or, in other people’s houses, which is where they stayed and dined and hunted and entertained themselves in general), but she herself had higher ambitions for both her own marriage, and that of her brother.</p><p>Caroline joined her sister at the bar, and mixed herself a gin and tonic. Mrs Hurst asked her in a low tone how they should be rid of Mr Darcy. Caroline sipped her cocktail, and, using the glossy benchtop as a mirror, reapplied her lipstick. Truthfully, she was stalling: Mr Darcy was an obstinate man, if not absolutely perverse. It would be difficult to be rid of him by hinting, asking him directly, or even by asking him especially to stay. He would just keep on reading. Caroline sighed. “We’ll have to give him the slip. Come up to my room, and we’ll talk there.”</p><p>Within quarter of an hour, both Caroline and Mrs Hurst were in the former’s boudoir.</p><p>Caroline had seated herself in a winged armchair. She wore a white satin negligee, covered loosely with a matching robe. She still wore her dark hair as she had at the ball: Parted dramatically to one side, she wore it sleek but curled it at the nape of the neck. Mrs Hurst knew that she hated to be seen with curlers in her hair, so she would not have it taken out of its style when she might still have a chance of seeing anyone.  She also still wore her jewels which consisted of sparkling bands at both wrists and her neck. Mrs Hurst noted that Caroline would have taken her dinner gloves off, and then replaced the bands on her arms. She wore glittering earrings to match, but no rings.</p><p>Mrs Hurst had come upstairs after Caroline, and had had no time to change into such a studied ensemble. She wore her ball dress still, a black chiffon gown with silver sequins in Hellenic patterns over the bodice and cap sleeves. She threw her black gloves on Caroline’s plush bedspread, and muttered in a low voice, “Why exactly did I have to drug my husband if we were going to come here?”</p><p>Caroline demurred. “Don’t tell me you mind?”</p><p>Mrs Hurst sighed. “I guess not. Only it’s a waste. I’ll have to go to London myself for more, or do without my maid while I send her for the stuff.”</p><p>Caroline was not worried that the maid might let slip what her mistress commissioned her to do. There were enough code words and locked boxes to keep that young hussy in the dark, so that she wouldn’t even know what she was carrying. If she was bright enough to work it out, well, there was a plan for that too. Breaking in a new ladies maid was yet another inconvenience, though.<br/>
Caroline lit a gasper. She held it to her lips with her right hand, and held her left arm straight, resting it rigidly on the arm of the chair. She commanded Mrs Hurst’s attention.</p><p>“Now, I am sure you agree with me that our brother simply can not marry into that family.”</p><p>Mrs Hurst nodded. The Bennets had out-performed themselves this evening. They remembered particular scenes: Mary playing tune after tune, each one a pious little plea to stop drinking and gambling. They were neither entertaining nor subtle in their style. Eventually Mr Bennet had asked her to stop, telling her that jazzy tunes would be much more in order for the evening as a chance for her, or anyone else, to show off. Mary had gone off in a huff, and her sulking would not be appeased by anybody’s inattentions. Caroline would have felt sorry for the way that Mary was passed over but, well, she knew her. Mrs Bennet had worn a ridiculously revealing and corseted dress, with her ample bosom powdered wherever it slipped out of her dress; and had waved the apparent fact of Jane and Bingley’s engagement in everybody’s faces in a most unbecoming way. Elizabeth had rejected Caroline’s warnings against Wickham (who wisely had not shown his face – that would have trumped the evening of disaster concerning unwanted guests) in a most obnoxious way. Kitty and Lydia had dressed with more attention to what silhouettes and shades suited themselves, unlike their mother, but had somehow surpassed her in lack of skin coverage. Their good manners and elegance were just as scarce as material on their bodies. Jane herself was tolerated of course. She was a sweet girl, amiable, pitiably able to be blinded, and very pretty. It was a kind of prettiness that would not overshadow Caroline’s own beauty. A definite point in her favour.</p><p>Caroline continued. “Perhaps it is fortunate that our brother is going to London. We both know how easy he is to persuade. Last Spring you were able to make him stay away from the charity ball for that hospital – it was easy enough once we had planted the seed for doubt that there wasn’t some embezzlement going on. Luckily enough, he did not know that you were the cause of the funds going missing.”</p><p>“Well, I needed a trip overseas and that was the easiest way to get it. I can barely believe Mr Hurst didn’t know I was gadding about the gay streets of Nice with a man on the board of London’s hospitals. It’s a good thing anyway: He was never a good doctor, he deserved to be fired.” Mrs Hurst smiled thinly.</p><p>“Anyway, we need to get back to the topic in hand. We agree that Charles can be distracted by something, as long as he is away long enough. A few good plays, some dinner parties with his old friends, and that sort of thing, will shake him out of this funk. I don’t dislike Jane – I find her quite entertaining when in her company – but I don’t place her above the horrors of her family. Do you know who I would value as a sister-in-law?”</p><p>Mrs Hurst had no objection to hearing who the lucky Mrs Bingley would be.</p><p>“Darcy’s sister. Georgiana. She has had barely any experience since she came out, so she can’t have any young men after her yet. It won’t take long though, since she is an heiress, and quite pretty and talented. We can have all sorts of dinners, outings, and what-nots with her invited along quite naturally as Darcy’s sister in want of companionship. The only thing in our way is Darcy himself. I flatter myself that he is very nearly almost within my grasp.” Caroline was so used to getting her way that she didn’t understand how far this was from the truth, nor did she know about Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s designs.</p><p>“If anyone can capture Darcy, it’s you.” Mrs Hurst was just as happy to flatter Caroline, as Caroline was to flatter Caroline. It would mean that Caroline would do the job as the best-suited for it.</p><p>“I have an idea.” Caroline said. She puffed on her cigarette, and smiled at herself in the mirror. She sat up a little straighter, so that the strap of her negligee fell a little off her shoulder.</p><p>While Mrs Hurst knew Caroline was a clever person, and probably was most-suited to the job at hand, she could not but protest. “Don’t tell me you’re going to try to seduce him again?”</p><p>“But this time I’ll succeed.” She waved aside the protest with a gesture, sending the smoky tendrils into puffs. “Keep a lookout, and tell me when he is in his room.”</p><p>Mrs Hurst could do nothing but agree. Caroline looked so very determined that there was no use now. </p><p>In the sitting room, Darcy had stopped his own pretence of reading. He was agitated, but still better at pretending to read than Caroline. He was occupied, unhappily, with thinking of how lovely Elizabeth had looked. That arched tilt of the chin, the dark, sparkling eyes, and her bewitching smile that appeared at the oddest, most unexpected moments,  and the hair that escaped its chignon and framed her face were all alive in Darcy’s mind, try as he might to banish them. He knew that it would be an imprudent match if they were to start courting. Not to mention marriage – connecting himself to that family, and their relations in trade. Unthinkable.</p><p>He shook himself from these musings, so confusing as they drifted between pleasant and unpleasant, and walked about the room. Everything about Netherfield was countrified and simple. The furniture was modern, but the room itself somehow looked as though it was straight out of the 1800s. The flying ducks on the wall – the fashion of the day – only served to remind him of country sports and hunting. The elegant furniture was streamlined and sophisticated, but too simple. He needed to get away from all of this – it was all wrapped up in the essence of Elizabeth, the simple yet witty girl from the country who bewitched him, just as this house and Jane had possessed Bingley. He thought to himself that they both needed to get away and stay away. </p><p>Perhaps the thunder and flashes of lightning made him more agitated, but he was convinced that a complete escape from the country was what was needed, for both himself and Bingley. Bingley would soon be in London, and Darcy thought that if he could persuade him of Jane’s indifferent feelings toward him, that all would be well. He would distract himself from Elizabeth by his usual business – keeping up correspondence regarding his estate, acting as guardian of his sister with his cousin, and, again with his cousin, visiting his redoubtable aunt on his annual pilgrimage to bow before her as one bows before a deity. </p><p>When he had reached his room, his expression as stormy as the sky outside, he had firmly decided that to London they should all go. They should make their removal from the country as complete as possible, which would mean bringing Bingley’s sisters and Mr Hurst. It would not be hard to convince Mr Hurst, if he could convince Caroline. Mr Darcy saw quite clearly that she was the decision maker of the three. However, he did not know how far her leadership in schemes went.</p><p>Mr Darcy mounted the stairs. He was trying hard to keep his mind on the fact of removal, but it was carried away by the fancies of fine eyes. Therefore, he was not aware of the dark shadow that was Mrs Hurst’s black evening gown in the corner of the landing. Once Mr Darcy had turned down the bachelors corridor, Mrs Hurst slipped along the passage back to Caroline’s room. She knocked gently on the door – three quick taps, two tiny scratches along the wood. Mrs Hurst continued creeping along the passage to her own bedchamber. Mr Hurst would not be there, she knew, but that was just as well. Mrs Hurst recalled that the doctor from the children’s hospital didn’t snore, and briefly regretted reporting him to the police. Once her maid had undressed her and turned down the bed, Mrs Hurst settled herself in bed, and offered a brief prayer: That Caroline wouldn’t embarrass herself too much.</p><p>As soon as Caroline heard the signal, she finished touching up her makeup. She leaned back and looked at herself in the dressing table mirror: Pencil-thin, dark eyebrows, porcelain skin, every strand of hair was perfectly in place (Ha! Who would ever suspect that she wore hair curlers at night), and one of the straps of her negligee was ever so slightly loosened so that it might slip off her sculpted shoulders. Her crimson lips smiled back at her from the glass.</p><p>She stood and slipped her feet into white heeled slippers. She slipped out of her room. Her negligee billowed out behind her as she made her way to Mr Darcy’s room. </p><p>A few paces away from his door, she paused and took a breath. Try not to look too confident, but as though you desperately need his help, she instructed herself sternly. She licked her lips, and knocked timidly on the door. Once she had barged right in and had been rewarded, not with a half-undressed man, but with a stern gaze and raised eyebrows. There was no need to repeat that.</p><p>“Who is it?” Caroline heard.</p><p>“It’s me, Caroline.” </p><p>“Oh, good. I wanted to talk to you –“ Mr Darcy was interrupted before he could say that he was happy to leave it to the morning.</p><p>“You wanted me?” Caroline would infer anything to add to her advantage.</p><p>“Yes.” Mr Darcy opened the door. “Now, I want to leave here tomorrow and to remove ourselves from Netherfield. Will Mr and Mrs Hurst agree?”</p><p>“Oh, Mr Darcy, I’m sure they will -“ Caroline was ready to effuse. But not to Mr Darcy’s door. That was what she was talking to.</p><p>Mr Darcy took himself to bed.</p><p>Caroline took herself to bed.</p><p>Mrs Hurst slept soundly in bed.</p><p>Mr Hurst wasn’t in bed, but he slept.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. London Liberties</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Caroline has got her connections out of the countryside, and back to London. Her new project is to set her brother dearest up with Darcy's sweet little sister. Men and women certainly see the different sides of Caroline's character a little differently.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Adelphi Buildings were demolished, at last.<br/>Caroline Bingley considered it a rather wonderful thing that they should be knocked down. Apparently a monument to the Art Deco style would be built in its place – something full of sharp angles, gleaming gold, and terrific modernity. Caroline vastly preferred the new to the old neoclassical terraces, that looked like a chunk of Ancient Greece in the middle of London. <br/>If there should be a new theatre built there, well, better and better, Caroline mused. It would make it a lot more accessible. Not for most people, not the riff raff – but for her, and for others of her class who really deserved such a place to be open to them when they needed to escape the townhouse, it really would be a most excellent thing. <br/>If only the hotel had been there a few years back when she had very, very nearly seduced Mr Darcy. How successful her campaigning would have been. The theatre would have provided each of them with a necessary refuge away from prying eyes, in the midst of the romance of theatricals, and would have been the very thing to win him over. For all her efforts, Caroline was feeling rather annoyed that Darcy was a tad distrait. Just now, he wasn’t even in London. He was off in the country again – although, she couldn’t mind that he was strengthening familial ties with his aunt. If Caroline Bingley was to enter the Darcy family, she wanted it and all its property to be a as strong and secure as possible when she assailed it.<br/>With Darcy at Rosings, it was time for another of Caroline’s pet projects to come to the forefront.<br/>As she strolled down Park Lane, perusing the fine houses with her poodle on a black leather leash, and heels clipping the pavement satisfactorily, she considered just how she would manage to have her brother fall in love with Georgiana and vice versa.<br/>It ought to be terribly easy.<br/>Georgiana had basically no experience; Bingley would quickly forget any experiences that he had, so they were both as impressionable as puppies. <br/>Georgiana was sweet; Bingley was gallant.<br/>Georgiana was talented; Bingley was convinced that he was not the cleverest man in the room (and, indeed, was not, according to Caroline), but was ready to appreciate and sympathise with any talent he came across.<br/>Georgiana and Bingley were every day in each other’s company.<br/>How could they not fall in love?<br/>Caroline continued along the streets of London and through the park (where she was subject to having to ignore the poodle doing its business). Having exited the park, she glided down Park Lane – although she wasn’t terribly sure about all of the artsy types to be encountered there. Ballrooms and film stars were one thing, but she had heard rumoured that a mobster lived somewhere around, and writers and artists seemed to hang around rather suspiciously.<br/>Despite her reservations as to the gauche of Park Lane, Caroline would not let it stop her. There was a pair of gloves most cunningly trimmed with fur in a shopfront, for which she was dying of another glimpse. <br/>She stopped at the window, and ensured she didn’t look at them too longingly. That would never do.<br/>While looking at her own reflection in the window, she caught sight of someone behind her. It was… no, it couldn’t be.<br/>But it was – that little minx, Jane Bennet.<br/>What ever could she be doing on Park Lane? If Caroline was absolutely longing for a pair of gloves that were out of her price range (but only just, she told herself), Miss Bennet couldn’t afford the wrist-button!<br/>Caroline turned away from Miss Bennet and considered. She had already known that Jane was in London, as she had sent her a letter and left a card. It had been a bit silly of Jane to give her warning, Caroline thought. She really ought to have thought about what to do with that knowledge, instead of sailing on as though nothing were wrong.<br/>The only thing that she could do was to stop relying on time and opportunity, and to positively force Georgiana and Bingley to fall in love. Then, Bingley would be safe from Miss Bennet, Caroline would be safe from any connection with that countrified family; and Darcy would take note of the chiming wedding bells, and want to replicate the process, with Caroline as the smiling bride beside him.<br/>She could just see herself gliding down the aisle, with a tasteful bouquet of crimson roses, a cunning hat with the teeniest bit of a brim, a wasp of a waist and a glittering diamond necklace to match the jewel on her finger.<br/>Caroline jolted back to reality as she heard her name being called. Remembering where she was, and whose presence had caused such an unwise reverie, she ducked into the shop that housed those treacherous gloves, and neatly avoided the whole ghastly situation. <br/>Back at the town house, Caroline was in a reverie as her maid brushed her hair. She was considering: What was the best way to make two people fall in love? For some reason, they had not done so already. How could two attractive people, of good fortune, of equally fine breeding and family not fall in love as easy as wink?<br/>They had spent plenty of time together. That, however, was not always a good thing: She knew plenty of couples who, after the wedding, had actually got to know their life partner and realised that it was all a terrible mistake.<br/>Well, that just was not allowed to happen here. Bingley and Georgiana would simply have to work. Caroline foresaw it as such, and therefore it would be. To the detriment of her hair, Caroline nodded sagely in the mirror at herself. Confidence and determination were all it would take.<br/>Caroline had both in droves.<br/>Later, Caroline discussed with the housekeeper the menu for the following week. Oysters, definitely. Anything with strawberries in it for dessert. Finger-food was recommended. (Finger-food was, admittedly, something that rather belonged to the past decade. It would, therefore, be a bit pre-historic for Caroline’s taste, but needs must.) Pineapple may help them think of exotic and exciting places… and was said to have had a medicinal effect for men… although Caroline almost gagged at the thought of her brother doing the deed or needing any help in that department. Truffles would be marvellous.<br/>The housekeeper was very good at keeping her feelings under a mask of good servitude, as should any good housekeeper be. As Caroline rattled off a list of items to be used in the coming week’s serving, she did, however, raise one eyebrow as she bent over her list.<br/>“Oysters – an absolute necessity. Two dozen every night. For dessert – anything involving the very best strawberries. Any sort of finger-food is recommended. It is, admittedly, rather passe, but there we are. Truffles would be exceedingly useful. Do get a few boxes of chocolate – the extra good kind.”<br/>Caroline continued to order luxurious food, which was not odd for her. But all of these foods – they were rather sensual, the housekeeper thought. Who, she wondered, was Caroline seducing now?<br/>The next day, Caroline took Georgiana out. She enjoyed taking the young dear out. She was so awfully sweet and endearing. She knew just when and how to offer a compliment. Awfully sincere. Full of well-directed and well-meant admiration. Truth to tell, Caroline found that she could sometimes be a bit much – a little over-zealous, but life would soon take care of that.<br/>Today that shouldn’t be too much a problem, anyway. Caroline would guide Georgiana in buying a new dress. Something a tad sexier than what she usually wore. Caroline had heard her young acolyte described to be as “cute as a bug’s ear”. She was a dear little thing. But she needed something less infantile and more chic.<br/>Georgiana enjoyed going out with Caroline. A clever girl, but with a bit of a well-hidden rebellious streak and a talent for amusing herself, she adored Caroline. Well, she adored buttering her up until it was laid on rather thick, and saw Caroline begin to swelter under the praise. She would stop as soon as she saw the older girl purse her lips and smear her teeth with the trademark fire-engine red lipstick.<br/>The trip to Harrod’s was all in a good cause. Both Caroline and Georgiana enjoyed the shop: Caroline for its gleaming surfaces, the unwavering attention of young men who smiled and called her “Madame” in their French accents as they served her every whim and pulled out any stock worth her attention, and the good quality gartered stockings. Men enjoyed a good, long leg with a lacy garter at the top, Caroline knew from experience. They knew the feel of good silk stockings as well as she did. It was a funny thing: Once you wore your first pair of silk stockings, you never needed t buy another. Someone was sure to buy you another pair as soon as you let him know that you were wearing them.<br/>Georgiana liked a good shopping expedition in the department store so she could look at the new trends, admire or criticise them, buy a whole outfit in one place – and then be done with shopping and traipsing around the city for a while.<br/>Today, Georgiana was thanking Caroline, ever so graciously, for the absolutely marvellous advice on how to dress to catch men’s attention. If Caroline suspected the thoughts in her friend’s mind, she would not accept the flattery and return it with her very best advice.<br/>Georgiana was taking it all in – and planned never to use any of it, unless to write in a column under the title of “Don’t do this – EVER!”<br/>Caroline guided Georgiana past the frocks that appealed to the young damsel, and toward the terribly stiff pencil skirts; the low-back evening gowns; the sunglasses with round, red frames. Georgiana feigned disappointment when Caroline said that they didn’t suit her face shape. Georgiana giggled as Caroline instructed the young assistant to put it in with the ever-growing pile of clothes that she, Caroline, would be taking.<br/>Georgiana knew exactly what she thought of the clothes that Caroline was picking out for her. However, she hated confrontation. She planned, therefore, to purchase anything that Caroline seemed set on her getting. At home, she could sort through it properly with her maid (who actually told the truth about what suited her and what didn’t) and return what was too outrageous or unsuitable for any other reason. The mustard-coloured floor-length evening gown, complete with the trademark low back, with a sequined left shoulder, and gauzy cape, was gorgeous – but far too much for Georgiana to wear. It looked like something that the altogether more buxom Rita Hayworth would wear. It was not something for the… flat Georgiana. That, at least, was what she thought as she smiled as Caroline threw it languidly on the pile of gowns, gloves, and other accessories.<br/>“You know what?”<br/>“What do you think, Caroline? Pray, do tell me.”<br/>“I really do think that you could do with a whole new look. Become a bit more chic. You live in London, for Heavens’ sake. There really is no excuse for you not to be your best self.” Caroline waved a chiding finger at the surprised girl.<br/>How on earth could she get out of this? Clothes that she could easily return were one thing. Being threatened in a dressing room to submit to bodily changes was quite another. The shop assistant who was at their beck and call secretly felt rather sorry for Georgiana, whom she had seen look questioningly at the other woman’s suggestions. Although the older girl was terribly elegant, dressed in her terribly elegant houndstooth, fur-trimmed business suit, and wearing an expression of boredom as she drawled out her commands, the assistant could see beneath the veneer. There was a core of absolute determination and ambition. All very good things, but it could be rather tricky to put up with.<br/>There were two young girls wandering through the perfume section – rather poor and countrified things, the assistant judged with her trained eye – who looked like they needed help (or even a hand to hold). The assistant ached to go over and help them, instead of waiting on this grand lady, who never heeded her advice, but rather ignored it, in favour of anything revealing decolletage or anything that curved suggestively around the derriere. If it did both, all the more reason to try it on, according to Caroline. The lady waved to the huge pile of finery.  <br/>“We’ll take these. I’ll give you my card so you’ll send them straight to my house.” Caroline said.<br/>“Oughtn’t I have them sent to my house?” Georgiana asked.<br/>“No, that’s another surprise.” Caroline said smugly. “They’ll arrive at my house. I’ll have my maid snip off all those tags so they won’t make a mess in your room, and you’ll come to stay. I feel as though I haven’t really spent some quality time with you for an age. Why we had to go into the country was very much a mystery to me – and a terrible bore as it meant I had to be away from you for so long, darling.”<br/>Georgiana smiled. “How terribly, awfully kind you are, dearest. I absolutely can’t wait. Now I think we’d better be going home, so I can try on all these lovely things again. I’ll be a sort of mannequin, and you can dress me up in anything you want.” Georgiana replied with a simper. It looked like she would be stuck with all this frippery – but she might be able to avoid the make-over.<br/>“Nonsense. Come with me. First thing is…. Let me see…..” Caroline encircled Georgiana. Much like a hawk, circling over its prey, thought both the shop assistant and Georgiana.<br/>“Hair!” Announced Caroline.<br/>Later in the evening, Caroline was gushing to her brother about how killing Georgiana looked with her new hairstyle. “You’ve never seen anything like it. I’m so glad I had the brainwave of inviting her over for a week or two – you’ll get to spend ever so much time together. Once you see the make-over I gave her today you won’t need any encouragement to do so.”<br/>Bingley acquiesced. If Caroline wanted him to spend time with her, he would. Georgiana was a sweet girl, and the younger sister of his best friend besides. But - Bingley wasn’t really in the mood to entertain. He missed Jane. He fidgeted with the book he had picked up.<br/>Caroline smiled: Bingley was so keen to see the newly made-over Miss Darcy that he couldn’t concentrate on his book.<br/>Caroline went on: “You see, she’s always been absolutely gorgeous – really stunning, you know – but hid it under all that hair. You couldn’t see anything of her. I uncovered it for us all to see. You really will love seeing all of her…. Unencumbered by that mop.”<br/>Bingley paid no attention. He didn’t notice the maid come in and pass a note to Caroline.<br/>Caroline glanced at the note and pursed her lips.<br/>“Caroline, Terribly cut up. I really can’t come downstairs. I look like a disastrous hedgehog. G.”<br/>Caroline was all surprise: In the salon, Georgiana had gazed upon herself in the mirror with unspoken joy. Even as Caroline was driving home, Georgiana had protected her hair with a scarf against the breeze that the convertible allowed. Upon reaching the townhouse, Georgiana had rushed upstairs to style her hair in the mirror… hadn’t she?<br/>She huffed. “Wait a moment” she told the maid.<br/>She sat down at the desk in the corner. On the back of the note, with a cursive hand she wrote “I’ll visit after dinner.” <br/>She told the maid to take up a tray of something for the guest – she wouldn’t waste all those oysters and strawberries – and handed her the note. Afterward, she strove to enjoy her pre-dinner cocktail, despite Bingley’s obvious disappointment that he wouldn’t be able to see Goergiana’s enticing new look.<br/>Darcy soon joined them.<br/>He expressed his concern when Caroline reported Georgiana’s indisposed state. She refused to believe that Georgiana didn’t adore her new look, and instead said that she was ill. She had not expected Darcy to react so exaggeratedly. He said that he would go to see her straight-away – no concern over her dinner, when she was always so punctual and precise as mistress of the house. Especially when Darcy was there to witness her prowess.<br/>Darcy climbed the stairs and knocked on his sister’s bedroom door.<br/>Georgiana, supposing it to be the maid returning with her dinner, opened the door. When she saw her brother, she looked down in abject mortification.<br/>“What ever have you done?” He exclaimed in a low voice.<br/>“It wasn’t me. It was Caroline. She wanted to give me a new look. Her other pet projects must be complete, or boring her, or something, because she seems to think that I am her new project.”<br/>“Nonsense, Georgie. She wanted to give you a treat…. But I must say that she misjudged rather badly on this one.”<br/>Goergiana sighed. Were all men so blinded by that witch of a woman? <br/>She decided to ignore that, and focussed on the matter in hand. <br/>“I can’t be seen like this, Fitz. Tomorrow I’ll get a cut at my own salon. I’m not really sure what they can do with this short length, but I trust my own hairdresser’s opinion. Caroline…. She may have made an honest mistake, but, as you say she misjudged.”<br/>Darcy nodded his head and dismissed himself from the room. He didn’t want to show rudeness by laughing at his sister – so he waited until he got out into the passage.<br/>Georgiana heard him from inside her room, and groaned.<br/>Darcy rejoined his friends downstairs. <br/>Dinner commenced and Caroline congratulated herself: Darcy would simply have to be impressed by this veritable feast that she had planned. Although she had intended the aphrodisiac food to inspire thoughts in the bosoms of Bingley and Georgiana, she supposed that it wouldn’t be wasted with Darcy seated across the table from her.<br/>She took an oyster and expertly swallowed, maintaining strict eye contact with Darcy. Darcy seemed rather smitten – she didn’t quite realise that Darcy was trying to keep his face straight. The memory of Georgie with her round face made even rounder by the thick bob, and the excruciating bleached blondeness that made her face look garishly pink was tickling him, and he didn’t want to give the game away. Caroline was obviously trying to protect her friend by not telling Bingley (or anyone else) about Georgiana’s mistake – for he had convinced himself that Miss Bingley could not have made such a mistake in recommending a haircut so garish.<br/>Bingley, meanwhile, was babbling on about how he had never before tried oysters. Caroline wanted to roll her eyes at his unworldliness, but that would not do in front of Darcy.<br/>Keeping her eyes glued on the handsome man in front of her, Caroline swallowed another oyster. Darcy’s lips twitched as he saw, in his mind’s eye, his kid sister with her buttery bob.<br/>Upstairs in her room, Georgiana was suddenly fed up. It was Caroline’s bloody fault, after all. Why should she, Georgiana, pay the price? She would go downstairs, instead of waiting for the maid to bring her a sad little tray, and enjoy a good feed. Caroline always catered well, and she may as well enjoy the food while she was here.<br/>She trod downstairs, and entered the dining room. <br/>Bingley had just swallowed an oyster. When he saw Georgiana’s new haircut, though, he couldn’t quite manage it.<br/>As Bingley chuckled, the oyster slipped up his throat – and onto the clean white linen tablecloth.<br/>Georgiana looked outraged for a moment – how dare he laugh! It was too cruel.<br/>Then she looked at the mortification blooming on Caroline’s face, and laughed herself.<br/>Caroline’s lips tightened until her lips were <br/>Darcy, with all his good manners and straight-laced ways, was aghast. Caroline’s distaste for the disarranged table. The mess on the cloth. His sister’s uproarious laughter. Bingley’s red-faced horror at what he had done.<br/>Bingley ducked under the table. It would be a good two weeks before he could look Georgiana in the face again.<br/>Georgiana thought that her new hairdo was worth the scene, and announced:<br/>“Caroline, daaaaarling, I really ought to thank you for my new ‘do. It’s just the ticket.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yes, it's silly (and also highly unlikely that the Bingleys, Hursts and Darcy would be sitting around after the ball but oh well) but it was fun to write! I had a fun time picking outfits from old movies:<br/>- Mrs Hurst wearing this Katharine Hepburn gown from the Philadelphia Story (http://classiq.me/style-katharine-hepburn-in-the-philadelphia-story)<br/>- Jane wearing this gorgeous frock worn by Jane Powell (https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/850476710853334718/)<br/>- Cyd Cherisse's dramatic, sexy, red sequin dress from Band Wagon (https://alisonkerr.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/the-little-red-dress/)<br/>- I couldn't decide on Elizabeth's dress: It would need to be the perfect mix of sexy, subtlety, elegance, and comfort. In the 1995 P&amp;P miniseries, Lizzy down the road, and makes see her in something that gives her a bit of flexibility.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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